City college has a first for town planning

Town planning apprentices, from 2015 to 2018, pictured alongside representatives from the RTPI and Chichester College

Published:16:29Monday 10 September 2018

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The first town planning technical support apprenticeships in the country have been completed at Chichester College.

To celebrate the occasion, the college brought together all its town planning apprentices for a special afternoon to recognise their accomplishments.

The entry level apprenticeship programme was first introduced at the college in 2015, with five apprentices embarking on the scheme which was developed by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Construction Industry Council.

Jamie Alley, Nicholas Whittington, Greg Anderson, Alex Carruthers and Andrew Pommells were the first five to sign up and completed their course in 2017, followed by 20 more completing their studies this year.

Since then the programme has grown phenomenally, with more than 40 town planning apprentices from more than 30 employers from around the country – including Derbyshire and Suffolk – studying at Chichester College to date.

Jamie, who has gone on to university to complete his degree qualification, said: “The apprenticeship experience we had was invaluable.

“Without this, I wouldn’t have gone on to university and I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.

“From day one we were working with professionals, getting real experience and employed in a job that without the apprenticeship I wouldn’t have been able to do at that stage. Our experience at Chichester was brilliant – the teaching we received was fantastic.”

Julie Kapsalis, managing director (commercial) at the Chichester College Group, added: “We are extremely proud to be among the first colleges to celebrate the successful completion of town planning apprenticeships.

“As a college group, we are committed to working with industry to deliver courses and training that meet their needs. This ensures that our students and apprentices are learning the skills they need to ensure their employability.

“Our initial research found there was a need for apprenticeships in this field, so to see this course grow from five to 45 in just three years is a tremendous achievement and I look forward to continued growth in numbers.”

To find out more about the apprenticeship contact Mo Toft, sales executive, at mo.toft@chichester.ac.uk